Ski lift problems in October

Friday

Dec 31, 2010 at 6:00 AM

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

An October inspection uncovered three problems with a Sugarloaf ski lift that derailed and fell to the ground this week, injuring eight people, but the issues appeared to be routine, according to an inspection report.

An inspector found that the 35-year-old East Spillway lift needed a guard placed over a drive shaft running from an electric motor to a service brake and recommended that trees and brush be cut under the chair’s top section.

He also wrote that some of the numbers on the lift towers were missing or not visible.

Sugarloaf took care of the first two problems and said it would put numbers on the towers once they were painted before ski season got under way, the report said.

The report doesn’t shed any light on what might have made a lift cable pop out of place Tuesday morning, causing five chairs to plummet 25 to 35 feet to the ground.

The resort, 120 miles north of Portland in Carrabassett Valley, said employees were attempting to realign the cable when the accident happened.

Eight people were sent to hospitals and dozens more were stranded on the lift for more than an hour.

At least one of the injured skiers remained hospitalized Thursday, two days after Tuesday’s accident.

Mike Katz was in satisfactory condition at Maine Medical Center in Portland.